Getaway Day: Time runs short as postseason nears

Houston Astros: For a guy that once was so resistant to relocating, Justin Verlander sure seems to be enjoying his new digs in Houston. In his second start as an Astro, he channeled a form reminiscent of his very best as a Tiger, throwing eight innings of one-hit, shutout baseball with nine strikeouts against the Angels on Tuesday. And if that wasn't enough, he stepped it up yet again on Sunday afternoon, striking out 10 over seven innings in a victory that clinched the AL West title for the Astros. Verlander is proving to be every bit the big game, event pitcher that Houston was clamoring for, and now apparently has on hand. 

Kansas City Royals: No matter what, the 2017 Royals will always have a place in the record books, because they did what no other team had done in over three weeks: beat the Indians. The Royals brought the AL-record 22-game winning streak to an end on Friday, a day after losing a walk-off against the Tribe. Is this the way that the Royals wanted to be remembered, especially in a season that was once so promising? No, but it is a spirit win at least, right? 

New York Yankees: The demise of Aaron Judge was greatly overestimated, as he made yet another huge moment in his phenomenal rookie campaign. He opened the weekend series against the Orioles in a major way, launching a pair of three-run homers, his second multi-homer game of the week. Judge now has two weeks to rustle together the seven home runs needed to surpass Mark McGwire’s rookie record of 49. And while Judge continues his pursuit of a more prominent record, Jacoby Ellsbury set the type of all-time record that knowing the answer to could be the difference between being a trivia night hero at some point in life. On Monday, he reached base for the 30th time via catcher’s interference, setting a new MLB record. It is a remarkably random outcome that allowed him to pass none other than Pete Rose in the record books.

Minnesota Twins:  There was no shortage of variety in the way the Twins went about their business over the last week. They moved past an 11-3 loss last Sunday by taking out their frustrations on the Padres in a 16-0 victory on Tuesday, in which they became the first team in history to homer in each of the first seven innings. Then over the next two days, there were a pair of extra innings victories, before being swept over the weekend by the Blue Jays, of all teams. And if that was not exhausting enough, they open the new week with a trip to face the only team ahead of them in the AL Wild Card race in the Bronx, while seeing their lead over the Angels for the final AL postseason spot remain a tight 1.5 games.

Los Angeles Angels: Albert Pujols' connected for his 613th career homer early in the week, which was a rare bright spot in a rough series against the Astros. However, the Halos rallied nicely over the weekend, putting a what is likely a final nail in the coffin of the Rangers' hopes. It was a well-timed rally, as the next week likely stands to be the ultimate proving ground for the year for the Angels, as they will host the Indians before taking to the road for their final matchup with the Astros on the year. With the two clubs they are chasing in the AL Wild Card standings facing off this week, they have a chance to take their own destiny in their hands, albeit against a pair of the AL’s best. 

Oakland Athletics: The Athletics made the rare trip back to where it all started for the franchise, the city of Brotherly Love, where Connie Mack made the once Philadelphia Athletics into one of the game’s great franchises in the early 1900s. Fast forward a century or so however, and Mr. Mack would likely roll over in his grave at the pairing of his once-great franchise and the team that currently inhabits the city, as the series paired off two teams that are firmly tucked into last place in their respective divisions. But the nostalgia is nice at least. 

Seattle Mariners: Apparently, Mike Leake is pretty big on being a Mariner. With a win over the Rangers last Wednesday, he is now 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA since coming over from St. Louis last month. His victory was the midpoint of a three-game winning streak for the M’s over the Rangers in which they posted 28 runs in three days. Looking to rebound from a rough weekend with the Astros, the Mariners will look to keep their fledging Wild Card hopes alive in the new week, as they will open a pivotal six-game home stretch against the Rangers and Indians. 

Tampa Bay Rays: It is not technically possible to win a Gold Glove in one night, but don’t tell Kevin Kiermaier that. The Tampa center fielder, who has made it his lifestyle of making the impossible possible, had two of the best catches of the year in a span of two innings on Friday night. The first was a full-speed, full-extension sprinting grab in left center field, with the next being a leaping grab at the wall to rob Mookie Betts. While there is little to be excited about regarding Rays baseball at this point, Kiermaier is apparently hellbent on being the exception to that rule.

Texas Rangers : Commenting on the recent returns from his club, Rangers manager Jeff Banister summed things up nicely by saying, “We’ve been punched in the mouth.” It is an accurate assessment of what has occurred over the last week in Arlington, as the Rangers have effectively been escorted from Wild Card picture in the last week by ways of the five-game losing streak. After allowing 10 or more runs in three times over the last week and being shutout on Saturday, the Rangers cling to the slimmest of hopes. 

Toronto Blue Jays:  Hey Josh Donaldson, have a weekend why don’t ya? Although the Jays have been long out of the race for anything close to competitive on the year, the Bringer of Rain is still putting up some number. He made a weekend series with the Twins his own personal home run derby, swatting five in three days time, including a massive 481-foot shot on Sunday afternoon.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks:  Robbie Ray has been busy in making up for lost time. Since returning from the horrifying line drive that struck him in the head, Ray has a 1.40 ERA while winning all of five of his starts. When he struck out 10 Giants Friday, it marked the fourth straight game he reached double-digits in strikeouts. 

Atlanta Braves: Sometimes, things just don’t make sense. The Braves ponied up enough to take a series from the Nationals early in the week, outscoring them 16-2 in their wins. However, they then followed that up by failing to score more than three runs once against a battered Mets team following the beating the Cubs put on them earlier in the week. Baseball is weird.

Chicago Cubs: It was the definition of a statement week by the Cubs, who followed up a week of dismantling the Mets with a decisive sweep of their (previously) closest in-division competition in the Cardinals. They posted 31 runs in two days against the Mets, while the weekend featured a dominant eight inning outing from Kyle Hendricks that has been absent from the Cub rotation for much of the year. Don’t look now, but Joe Maddon’s boys could have been saving their best for last. 

Cincinnati Reds: Upon facing the Reds lineup earlier in the week, Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn commented,"who are these guys?" when asked about what it is like to face the current incarnation of the Red Legs. The Pirates may be able to help Lynn sort through things, as the young Reds took their brooms out over the weekend as they completed their second sweep of an NL Central opponent in the last month (the other being against Milwaukee, Sept. 4-6). 

Colorado Rockies: The Rockies waged war in what could be an enticing preview of what’s to come in the National League Wild Card play-in game, as they split a four-game set in Arizona to start the week. But if that series is to come, perhaps the D-back faithful should think twice before choosing to target Nolan Arenado. Arenado hit a decisive three-run homer to win Monday’s ballgame, which he dedicated to a heckler he said was riding him the entire game. But when you’re as good as Arenado is, getting the last laugh can prove to be much easier done than said.

Los Angeles Dodgers: When looking back at their still incomprehensible losing streaks, maybe it all balances out as the Dodgers just wanted to get all their losses they skipped early in the year out of the way all at once? While I am not sure what the record is for longest losing streak snapped in a postseason clinching game, it is likely that the Dodgers are in range of it. L.A. ended its seemingly endless losing skid at 11 games on Wednesday and in the process clinched a playoff berth. They have since returned to their winning ways, trouncing the Giants midweek before pulling off an impressive weekend win over the Nationals as well. 

Miami Marlins: It has been over a week since Giancarlo Stanton last homered, and he even has had two of the last four games off. So in other words, not much to see here, moving right along. 

Milwaukee Brewers: After being dormant for the better part of the second half of the season, the Brewers offense came roaring back to life over the last week. Led by the hot bats of Travis Shaw (remember him) and Domingo Santana (maybe him not so much), the Crew posted seven or more runs in their final four games of the week, winning three in the process. They will need those bats to stay hot, as next weekend holds what will be the decisive series of their season, as the lively bats of the Cubs pay a visit at Miller Park for a four-game set. 

New York Mets: Shall we try to put the ineptitude of the Mets offense into proper connotation? Okay, let’s do it. During their 22-game win streak, the Indians allowed just 37 runs. Meanwhile, the Mets allowed 39 in just over 22 innings this week against the Cubs. For as wonderful as the parity around baseball has been this year, there are still the haves and the most definitely have-nots.

Philadelphia Phillies: It is becoming tougher and tougher to explain the phenomenon that is Rhys Hoskins, as he is regularly creating double-take worthy headlines. Case in point, when he hit his 18th  home run on Thursday, he became the fastest player in MLB history to reach the mark, doing so in only 34 games – a full 10 games faster than the previous record. The 24-year-old is a one-man show that makes the Phillies worth the watch, and that is saying quite a bit considering what they were before he arrived. 

Pittsburgh Pirates: Although both manager Clint Hurdle and GM Neal Huntington just extended their contracts, the recent returns in Pittsburgh lead to questioning everything about where the team is headed – at least in the big picture. With Sunday’s loss, the Buccos enter the new week amid their fourth losing streak of four or more games in the last month. 

San Diego Padres: The Padres simply have been punished by a turn of fate on their schedule of late, as they are in the midst of a nasty run that features six straight series against teams that are currently headed towards the postseason. And as you could imagine, the returns have been rough for the young Padres: six straight losses in which they have twice been shutout 16-0 and failed to score more than two runs in any other game. 

San Francisco Giants: Yes, the Giants have been down all year, but in all fairness to them it is tough to get going when facing the arms they were paired off against this week. Save for Monday’s victory over the Dodgers, they faced off against the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish, Robbie Ray, Zack Greinke and Taijuan Walker to finish off a predictably futile offensive week for the home team at AT&T Park.   

St. Louis Cardinals: This comment found my text messages over the weekend: “When I die, I want the 2017 Cardinals offense to bury me, so they can let me down one more time.” It is a tough, but fair assessment of the week that was from the Cardinals, who went into Wrigley Field over the weekend with a chance to truly shake things up in a head-to-head matchup. Yup, they dropped three-game sweep against their divisional rivals just when they needed to make one last run at the throne.  

Washington Nationals:  With the NL East title clinched and their postseason positioning fairly certain, it could be understood if the Nats took their foot off the gas in a series such as the one they dropped to the Braves to start the week. However, the weekend held a true heat check in the form of the Dodgers, who continued to rally back into form at the Nationals' expense. But again, nothing to worry about here as some rest and relaxation could be coming to the regulars in the upcoming weeks for a roster that has been under siege by injury throughout much of the year. But while some members of the team may be slated to take it easy coming up soon, Bryce Harper will not be counted among them. The franchise cornerstone had his first batting practice session on Sunday since his August knee injury, in an effort to be back within the next two weeks when the NLDS gets under way.